Warester Van Dam
Warester Van Dam was the Grand Master of Ravenholdt during the Great War. Early Life Warester Van Dam was born into Ravenholdt. His mother, Chi-Chi Sabu-Van Dam was an accomplished and decorated agent before her retirement, and crafted a legacy for her son to follow. She dreamed that one day he would eclipse her own accomplishments and raised him to worship the Holy Light. At a young age, Warester was taken under the wing of Krol, a future Grand Master himself and a living legend. Warester would become his greatest student. During this time, he also befriended Krol’s adopted son Myrokos Silentform and the two became close allies. The pair acquired years of practical combat and infiltration experience while they were still very young. As an adult, Warester was a certified master of combat, subtlety, and assassination and proficient with almost all forms of weaponry as well as unarmed, hand-to-hand combat. When a refugee from Alterac was taken in by Ravenholdt, Hellen von Xie and Warester Van Dam developed an on again off again romantic relationship while she trained. Feelings would linger for years. At some point a mission caused him to cross paths with the pirate captain Bartholomew Dampwallace. Bucking the normal trend of assassins and pirates not liking each other, they became friends. When Krol was killed, it came to light that he had chosen Van Dam as his successor. Van Dam was uncertain if he could fill the sizable shoes of Krol and the mysterious cirsumstances surrounding Krol’s death created a web of suspicion within Ravenholdt. Warester suspected that Lord Travot Ravenholdt and his loyalists were involved, creating tensions. The Great War Some time before the Great War, agents of Alterac sought Ravenholdt’s assistance in poisoning the wells of the nearby Tarren Mill. Against the wishes of the Grand Master, Travot Ravenholdt accepted this contract and his agents poisoned the wells. This infuriated Grand Master Van Dam, who physically fought and defeated Travot in retaliation. Ravenholdt’s complicity in the matter was subsequently covered up through a covert mission into Tarren Mill, headed by Hellen von Xie, where the town’s Mayor Juntridge (who secretly worked for Alterac) was assassinated. A messenger acting on behalf of Archmage Javali of Dalaran, though carefully undisclosed and unbeknownst to Ravenholdt, sought to take out a contract on the life of Kul Tiras’ leader, Thaumas Proudmoore. The assassination was to take place at the Fenris Conference, with Javali intending to use Thaumas’ death to rally support to his side in the inevitable war to come. Sensing that there was more at play than a simple assassination, and fearing reprisal from pagans for ancient antagonism, Van Dam decided to travel to Fenris Isle for the Peace Conference and attempt the assassination. He armed himself with special and advanced weaponry for the task, including the Fang of Korialstrasz - a powerful dagger made from the dragon’s tooth. On his way to the Isle, he encountered Alteracii pirates who mistook him for a common peasant and tried to shanghai him into military service, but he defeated them. He decided to eliminate the entire crew, but during the battle another ship arrived. This ship contained Alterac’s admiral, Faldren Darafel, who proposed an alliance against mutual enemies. Van Dam accepted, and the pirates gave him passage to Fenris. On their ship, Warester befriended his cabin-mate, a Gnoll chef named Nibbles. He also encountered the wounded former Alterac wizard Caxagord along the way. Faldren Darafel had no sympathies for Caxagord, though word had reached him of the second coup and the return of the Chancellors to power in Alterac. It was decided that Faldren and Caxagord would ally with Van Dam against the return of the fascist Chancellor regime. Van Dam reached Fenris Isle and was treated by Duke Augustus Fenris as an official diplomat from Ravenholdt. During this time, he sent out several secret letters to the other heads of state in attendance. This resulted in a meeting with King Alford Menethil and the formation of a strong Lordaeron-Ravenholdt alliance. Van Dam also formed an alliance with Skirvar Thaurissan of Ironforge. In addition, he was approached in secret by the reclusive Relfthra, a member of the clandestine Council of Tirisfal. Relfthra wanted to recruit Van Dam, and the two formed a plan to eliminate Proudmoore and his evil overpowered father Phorcys. The plan never went into action however, because Grigori Dosantos lead a Kirin Mora and Witch-hunter attack on the conference. In the mayhem, Van Dam saw an opportunity and attacked Thaumas. He horribly scarred Mrs. Proudmoore's face with weed-killer before chasing Thaumas out onto the balcony. Thaumas nearly escaped on one of his flying Couatls, but Van Dam latched onto the beast with his grappling hook. In an aerial battle that involved other Couatls, Van Dam eventually stabbed Thaumas in the heart and sent him plummeting from hundreds of feet in the air to the murky depths of Lordamere Lake below, killing him. Van Dam then reengaged in the greater battle, which saw Phorcys flee and Caxagord show up only to get turned into a blubbering baby in the presence of Tendura Xie. It was then that Xie, or rather his handler Bergan Yezhov, invited Van Dam to another diplomatic summit, and cooking competition, in Alterac. Van Dam accepted. Thereafter, Relthra explained the mission the Council would have for its new member. After being attacked by and slaying a Chancellor-animated Shade, Relfthra tasked Van Dam with traveling to Alterac and putting a stop to the sinister machinations of the Chancellors. Before he did so, Van Dam met with Alford again in Capital City for a strategy session. This time, the two authorized two join operations - the incursion into Alterac, to be lead by Van Dam personally in tandem with Maximus Krowl, and an incursion into Gilneas by agent Magyver McGowan and Warren Greystone. 'Saga of the Other' Returning to Ravenholdt, he was met with the ill news that Hellen had transformed into the Other- a twisted chancellor experiment involving a dead god known as Akaerna-Sagai. The Other had threatened to attack Myrokos, who Van Dam had earlier sent on a mission to Jintha’alor to retrieve the Ancient Egg. Refusing to allow his brother to be caught off guard, Van Dam sent Travot to Alterac in his place while he used experimental hang-gliders created by Qu to intercept the Other. He did so, but failed to stop the Other from capturing the Egg and absconding with it to Alterac City. Van Dam and his company, again encountering Fandral and his crew, returned to Alterac. There they met up with Relfthra and his fellow Counciller, Meryl Winterstorm. They infiltrated the citadel, and attempted to rescue the Dragon Korialstrasz, who was going to be the secret ingredient in the cook off competition. The rescue was all an elaborate trap calculated by Meryl, secretly Lord Giren, to get Van Dam to use the Fang of Korialstrasz to unlock a cache of Black Iron Golems. A vision from Krol told Van Dam it was the right thing to do, but Van Dam, Myrokos, and Relfthra were imprisoned and the secret ingredient was changed to spaghetti-os. The group was about to be executed when members from Travot’s team, who had gone ahead of them, infiltrated the cook-off and freed them. They pursued Xie, but they were they attacked by the Other. At this point, the Other had absorbed so many souls that it had grown beyond any mortal's power to defeat. It could call upon strange magics that killed Robin Keats. It looked like the Other would kill all the heroes, until the shade of Krol again appeared to Van Dam. He extended his hand, and Van Dam brought all of them to another realm by taking it. In the Holy plane, the spirits of all the good people killed by the Other (including Krol, Vord Wallis, and an Alterac Sex Slave) entered the bodies of the living hosts. Infused with power, they returned to the mortal plane and released the spirits. The holy explosion stripped away the Others increased powers, making it as weak as when it first emerged. Having been told by Krol that the Other lived in Hellen’s blood, Van Dam used first aid techniques to “stop the bleeding.” It eventually succeeded and the Other was forced back into dormancy, while Hellen painfully gouged out her own earlobes to avoid ever hearing the sounds that would transform her again. From there they traveled to Xie’s tower, where they did battle. Fandral showed them the exit, and having narrowly escaped Xie himself, who had undergone his own “Other” transformation, Van Dam and his crew fled the citadel. They got to a safe distance, but the Chancellors had erected a dampening field that blocked the detonator’s signal. Hellen sacrificed her own life and took one of Relfthra’s portals inside, detonating the bomb personally and destroying the citadel, the Chancellors, and all their experiments. An army was looming large on the horizon, presumably of the Chancellors’ reinforcements. Van Dam received an urgent message however, and had to return to Ravenholdt - where he found Giren, former Ravenholdt-agent Charlie Vidal, and Caxagord had somehow snuck in and taken captives. They were looking for Hellen, but when Van Dam informed them that she was dead, they left. They did not take Charlie with them, and he was thrown off the mountain for his betrayal. Hurrying back to Alterac to support the newly freed populous against that approaching army, Van Dam rallied his agents and the Ramrod Legion and marched with haste. They encountered the rampaging Winterax troll tribe - who they engaged. Van Dam battled their leader, Korrak the Ever-Living. Eventually they were able to sandwich the trolls between them and the walls of Alterac City, crushing them. Krowl had managed to make peace with the other army, and Van Dam agreed to help Alterac recover. 'Future Uncertain' Shortly thereafter, Van Dam traveled with Krowl to meet Alford, who had been deposed and forced from Lordaeron’s Capital City. The meeting also saw Van Dam meet with Relfthra, who brought dire news about the Guardian Scavell's disappearance and a possible connection between Phorcys and Meryl. The parties then made plans that held the Great War’s outcome in the balance. Warester was magically forced by Relfthra to travel to Gilneas with Relfthra, Erbag, and Kithros to discover the whereabouts of council-member Rodin Fornsform. In exchange, Van Dam would become privy to all the secrets of Shorel’Thalas. Once there, Van Dam and the council teamed up with a Ravenholdt team lead by Magyver McGowan that was engaged in battle with the forces of Mordred Baldanes. They were forced to retreat to Zanzifos where the Death of Mordred Baldanes occurred. There, Van Dam and the council realized that Rodin had betrayed the council and allied with D'vorjakque. It was eventually discovered that the spell that empowered Mordred’s transformation originated with the Scroll of Lore. Van Dam and the council decided the Scroll was too dangerous to leave unchecked and began to pursue it. Upon tracing the Scroll to Zul’Dare, they traveled to the island. While undercover in the town of New Barsmouth attempted to locate the Scroll, Van Dam encountered Krasus and Krasus’ familiar, Hocus Snood. Krasus was an old ally of Warester’s mentor Krol, and requested Van Dam’s aid in infiltrating the island’s mysterious woods. Van Dam agreed, and was brought into Ythan'alai where he encountered Meryl Winterstorm, who was in possession of the stolen Ancient Egg. A confrontation in Ythan'alai erupted between Van Dam, Relfthra, and Men’heva himself, who appeared seeking the Egg. Upon prompting from Warester, Krasus was able to use the Egg to conjure the spirit of Elortha no Shadra as a distraction. They grabbed Meryl and escaped into a Ziggurat, where they found a cache of Black Iron Golems. In the Ziggeraut, they were confronted by and fought with Namor Periandrius, Johnnie Jacula, and Alan Zadok. It was then that Xaxion Drak’eem revealed to them the Vision, which explained Men’heva’s history and plans to alter the course of history. This revelation was shocking, and prompted Krasus to contact the Bronze Dragonflight. Van Dam, Krasus, Snood, and Meryl escaped via portal to Krasus’ Sanctum, where Meryl was imprisoned and Van Dam was to wait until Krasus returned. However, while Krasus was gone Van Dam received a message from the Council of Tirisfal requesting his assistance in deposing Van Dam’s old enemy, Phorcys. Van Dam agreed upon Snood’s urging, and traveled to Kul Tiras. 'Liberation of Kul Tiras' Once in Kul Tiras, Van Dam joined with the Council, who had liberated the Guardian, Scavell, and rebels who included Katherine Adai, Joachim Alten, Gerard Falrevere and Janus DeMeza. Van Dam told them all about the Vision, which shook some of their faiths. Unbeknownst to Warester, Men’heva has traced his movements to Krasus’s lair where he stole the Ancient Egg, exterminated the Grippli, and killed a Krasus who had traveled back from an alternate future. At that time, Van Dam discovered that Men’heva himself was leading a massive fleet of half-trolls from Zul’Dare to invade Kul Tiras and to kill Phorcys in order to claim his power. Kul Tiras was defending the island and a huge naval battle had broken out. Van Dam and the Council decided to confront Men’heva on the high seas before he could reach the island. Disguising themselves as Eels, they infiltrated the ships. Scavell engaged Men’heva in one-on-one combat. Meanwhile, Hocus Snood had found Ba’jal on the ship and informed Van Dam. Ba’jal was in possession of the Ancient Egg and tried to convince Van Dam to use it on Phorcys and then project a spell to reveal the Vision to all. Van Dam didn’t trust the troll, and instead stabbed him with the Fang of Korialstrasz, killing him. Men’heva gained the upper hand in his battle against Scavell. Just before Men’heva could deal the fatal blow, Phorcys had joined the fray. The two battled in a titanic struggle. Though wounded, Phorcys forced Men’heva to retreat. Van Dam, operating on part of Ba’jal’s suggestion, sought out Phorcys and asked that he use his powers to project the Vision to the entire nation of Kul Tiras in hopes of ending the battle. Having had an epiphany about his actions after seeing Alan Zadok suffer a paranormal fate, Phorcys agreed. To project the Vision wide enough, they had to travel to the top of Kul Tiras’ palace. Van Dam and the council covered Phorcys’ ascent, where Van Dam found himself fighting and eventually killing his former ally turned enemy, Johnnie Jacula. Phorcys succeeded in projecting the Vision at the cost of expending all his godlike power and reverting to a feeble old man. Phorycs was met by both Xalmor Windrunner and Van Dam, who each tried to win him to their cause in order to exploit his knowledge. Namor Periandrius then attacked Phorcys, but was unable to successfully bind himself to the powers of a demigod because those powers had already been spent. Namor was then apprehended, and Van Dam agreed to a begrudging alliance with Xalmor against their common enemy: Men’heva. Van Dam then had a hand in setting up a new ruling council for Kul Tiras. He also sought out and elevated Lightists in the nation, including Deke Dio, who he hoped would act as leaders and mobilize Lightists in the region. 'The Age of Men'heva' Pending... Quotes ''"Why you slimy, double-crossing, no-good swindler. You got a lot of guts coming here, after what you pulled," the man spoke menacingly, faked a charge, then bro-hugged Dampwallace, and continued in a friendlier tone, "How're you doing, you old pirate?" '' . Category:Characters Category:Humans Category:Lightists